Information for Current Honours Students

Honours Coordinator: Dr Tim Schmidt, Room 457, Level 4, Phone 9351 2781; Email t.schmidt@chem.usyd.edu.au

Deputy Honours Coordinator: Dr Mat Todd, Room 517, Level 5, Phone 9351 2180; Email m.todd@chem.usyd.edu.au

Honours Administrator: Rachel Moerman, Room 207, Level 2, Phone 9351 8599; Email r.moerman@chem.usyd.edu.au

Welcome to the Honours Programme in the School of Chemistry. This document gives you a brief overview of the requirements of this year. Further details will be posted on the web as required. You will be notified by email when new information is added to the site.

Formal Requirements

All Honours Students must :

(a) Carry out a research exercise under the supervision of a member of staff.

(b) Present a thesis on the research carried out.

(c) Present a seminar on the research carried out.

(d) Complete coursework as specified below.

(e) Attend on average one research seminar per week during semester, i.e. a total of 26 seminars throughout the year. The seminar programmes will be distributed at the start of semester and all lectures are advertised weekly in ChemEvents. Occasionally research lectures will be scheduled at a different time than those specified above and you will be advised by the appropriate seminar coordinator.

(f) Attend Sydney University Chemical Society Meetings (5.30 pm second Wednesday of the month) and School Colloquia (5:15 pm fourth Wednesday of the month).

Assessment

The final mark in the Honours Year in Chemistry is determined by the Honours Board of Examiners based on the weighted raw marks of the four components:   Research : Coursework : Seminar : Thesis (45 : 10 : 15 : 30). The final mark awarded by the Honours Board of Examiners determines the grade of Honours awarded. The raw marks in each component will be awarded in accordance with the Faculty Guidelines appended at the end of this document. A copy of the Honours assessment criteria can be found here.

1. Research Work

The research mark is determined on the basis of the research work carried out during the year and includes assessment of overall performance including initiative, competence in experimental techniques, understanding of fundamentals, diligence, research aptitude and potential. Students are not assessed on the success of their project.

2. Honours Thesis

The thesis reports the research work carried out during the year and should be presented in a consistent style throughout that typically follows that of major international journals in the relevant discipline area (e.g. J. Org. Chem.; Inorg. Chem.; J. Phys. Chem.; Biochemistry; Langmuir). The level of raw data presented should be consistent with journal requirements (e.g. level of characterization of new compounds, tabulated original data, Figures). A page limit of 50 to 60 pages (A4, single-sided, 12 point, 1.5-2.0 line spacing) applies unless a justification is included (e.g. large numbers of original spectra required to justify discussion of results; Experimental characterization of compounds).

You must acknowledge all assistance from staff and others under the heading Acknowledgements and Statement of Contribution of the Student on a separate page of the thesis, immediately after the title page and before any general acknowledgements, explaining their role briefly but precisely. You may give a general statement thanking people in the Acknowledgements, but the Statement of Contribution of the Student must be more explicit. You must give details of contributors to the project. For example, were you part of a team who performed the experiment, did someone write parts of the computer code, take the observations, build some of the apparatus, or do some of the analytic work? Here you must also acknowledge any assistance that was provided in thesis preparation. The reason for this Statement is to assist the assessment of the reports, which may be written in the third person like research publications. You are also required to provide on this page a signed and dated statement of originality of the form: I certify that this report contains work carried out by myself except where otherwise acknowledged.

A penalty of 5 marks applies for each day late of submission of the thesis (i.e. any time in the 24 h period following 5 pm deadline incurs a 5 mark penalty).

General Guidelines:

The Honours thesis is a report of the research work that a student has carried out during the year. The thesis should make it clear why the work was attempted, how it was carried out, what results were obtained, how the results are to be interpreted at the time when the thesis is written, and may conclude with an outline of further work that should be done on the project.

The thesis should be produced, in general, single-sided on white A4 paper, using 1.5-2 line-spacing and 12 point font. The minimum format for binding is press binding available from the level 3 service room. Spiral and spring-back bindings are not to be used. The exact style and layout of the thesis varies within the sub-disciplines of chemistry and follows journal styles. More information on these requirements will be distributed later in the year. You should discuss your thesis organisation and style with your supervisor.

Length of Thesis

The recommended length of the thesis is no more than 50-60 pages (unless justification included). Please note that the use of font sizes significantly smaller than 12pt or close line spacing (less than 1.5) to attempt to meet the above restrictions will not be looked upon favorably. This limit does not include contents pages, references and appendices.

Printing of your Thesis

The Front Office printer is not available for thesis or assignment printing.

Plagiarism

The University of Sydney is opposed to and will not tolerate plagiarism. It is the responsibility of all students to ensure that they do not commit or collude with another person to commit plagiarism, report possible instances of plagiarism, and comply with the University Policy and Procedure found here.

Thesis Submission Dates

Semester 2 Submission (for students who commenced in February 2009): 5 pm Tuesday 10 November 2009

Semester 1 Submission (for students who commenced in July 2009): 5 pm Tuesday 15 June 2010

Theses should be submitted to Ms Rachel Moerman on the due date. Please note that there will be a mark penalty of 5 marks per day for theses submitted after these dates.

Three copies are required and these may be either soft or hard bound. In addition, an electronic copy of the thesis (*.pdf format) must be supplied to the supervisor and to Rachel Moerman (r.moerman@chem.usyd.edu.au) by the deadline. The student’s name and the year should be shown on the cover in a non-detachable way. Copies of the thesis can be printed using the School laser printers.

Note: for those students who commenced in July 2009, no experimental work is to be undertaken during the period December 18 2009 to January 15 2010.

3. Coursework

In 2009, we have commenced a unified coursework programme in the School of Chemistry to address student needs and graduate attributes.

Semester 1  - Scientific Literature (12 weeks)

The students are provided with training on using online scientific literature databases including Web of Science and SciFinder. They are trained in the accepted manner of scientific citation and in the use of bibliographic software. There is a short assessment to establish competency in searching scientific literature early in the semester. The students will then be instructed in the art of scientific communication in a series of interactive seminars where they build up to writing a fully referenced digest on a topic of chemical interest. The final reports are assessed by three staff members.

Semester 2  - Scientific Communication (12 weeks)

The students will be issued with a research paper to summarize. The student will investigate citing as well as cited papers, and write a short report on which they are assessed on their understanding of the content and context of the paper. The students will be instructed on the use of electronic visual presentations, and software such as Microsoft PowerPoint. The students will present a short seminar of 10 minutes of a complimentary nature to their written report.

4. Seminar

Semester 2 Seminar Date (for students who commenced in Feb 2009) : Monday 2 November - Wednesday 4 November 2009

Semester 1 Seminar Date (for students who commenced in July 2009) : June 2010 (date to be confirmed)

A 30 minute seminar (20-25 min presentation + 5-10 min questions) describing the research carried out during the year is required. You are welcome to use the School Smart LT facilities (Powerpoint, web presentation etc) for your presentation, or slides and/or overheads. Please note that you are not given bonus marks (or penalised marks!) for the type of presentation you use, but on the message and chemistry that is delivered.

Faculty of Science Award of Honours

The grade of Honours awarded follows the Faculty Guidelines. These guidelines are followed in awarding the raw marks for each component. The final mark in the Honours Year in Chemistry is determined by the Honours Board of Examiners based on the weighted raw marks of the four components : Research : Coursework : Seminar : Thesis (45 : 10 : 15 : 30). The final mark awarded by the Honours Board of Examiners determines the grade of Honours awarded.

The Faculty has adopted the following guidelines for assessment of student performance in honours:

95–100
Outstanding First Class quality of clear Medal standard, demonstrating independent thought throughout, a flair for the subject, comprehensive knowledge of the subject area and a level of achievement similar to that expected by first rate academic journals. This mark reflects an exceptional achievement with a high degree of initiative and self-reliance, considerable student input into the direction of the study, and critical evaluation of the established work in the area.

90–94
Very high standard of work similar to above but overall performance is borderline for award of a Medal. Lower level of performance in certain categories or areas of study above.

Medal Guidelines
In order to qualify for the award of a University medal, it is necessary but not sufficient for a candidate to achieve a SCIWAM of 80 or greater and an Honours mark of 90 or greater. Faculty has agreed that more than one medal may be awarded in the subject of an Honours course. The relevant Senate Resolution reads: ‘A candidate with an outstanding performance in the subject of an Honours course shall, if deemed of sufficient merit by the Faculty, receive a bronze medal’.   Recommendations to award a medal to a student who satisfies these requirements must be accompanied by a brief statement outlining the basis for the claim that the student’s performance is outstanding.  This should include:  (i) a written statement summarizing the evidence of outstanding performance during the Honours course (e.g. prizes, ranking of course and thesis marks) and of consistently meritorious performance throughout all undergraduate years;  (ii) an academic transcript summarizing the student’s undergraduate performance;  (iii) any other relevant information that would help inform the examining committee.

Students with an Honours mark of 90 or greater and a SCIWAM of 77 to 79 inclusive may be considered for the award of a university medal only if it can be demonstrated that their WAM was affected by sickness, misadventure, unusual workload or choice of units of study.

80–89
Clear First Class quality, showing a command of the field both broad and deep, with the presentation of some novel insights. Student will have shown a solid foundation of conceptual thought and a breadth of factual knowledge of the discipline, clear familiarity with and ability to use central methodology and experimental practices of the discipline, and clear evidence of some independence of thought in the subject area. Some student input into the direction of the study or development of techniques, and critical discussion of the outcomes.

75–79
Second class Honours, first division – student will have shown a command of the theory and practice of the discipline. They will have demonstrated their ability to conduct work at an independent level and complete tasks in a timely manner, and have an adequate understanding of the background factual basis of the subject. Student shows some initiative but is more reliant on other people for ideas and techniques and project is dependent on supervisor’s suggestions. Student is dedicated to work and capable of undertaking a higher degree.

70–74
Second class Honours, second division – student is proficient in the theory and practice of their discipline but has not developed complete independence of thought, practical mastery or clarity of presentation. Student shows adequate but limited understanding of the topic and has largely followed the direction of the supervisor.

65–69
Third class Honours – performance indicates that the student has successfully completed the work, but at a standard barely meeting Honours criteria. The student’s understanding of the topic is extremely limited and they have shown little or no independence of thought or performance.

Dr Tim Schmidt
Honours Coordinator
School of Chemistry
The University of Sydney NSW 2006
email: t.schmidt@chem.usyd.edu.au
Phone: (02) 9351 2781

Last updated 23/07/2009